A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 48 Shen Mizhi

Ten days passed in a flash!
During the past ten days, Duan Rong has been practicing meditation and painting, and his life has been very fulfilling!

The prescription given by Mr. Xiao is indeed effective!

Duan Rong stood in the stance for nine full hours every day, and he felt neither physically exhausted nor mentally exhausted.

As soon as the time came for the resignation of Emperor Guangxu, Duan Rong would appear under the old locust tree diagonally opposite the Huaying Tower on time, grinding ink and painting for the boys and girls who came here to admire him!
After ten days, his pockets had become fatter and his total assets had exceeded two thousand taels, which made him a wealthy man.

However, when painting that day, Duan Rong suddenly discovered that there were only eight people in line.

This is the first time there is a gap since he started painting!
This was certainly a signal that it was time for him to move.

After all, Xiangu County is not the Internet of the previous life, and the population of the urban area is only about 300,000 or 400,000.

Among them, the number of families who could afford to spend ten taels of silver to buy a painting was very limited.

While Duan Rong was painting, he was always thinking about his next move. When he submitted the last painting, he had already made up his mind.

Duan Rong pasted a new piece of rice paper on the wooden board nailed to the old locust tree, picked up a pen and dipped it in ink, and wrote: To queue up for the photo, please go to the diagonally opposite the herbal medicine shop on West Street, under the crooked willow tree!
There used to be a stall selling wontons under the crooked willow tree, but the old man who sold wontons caught a cold last month and died before he recovered.

This place became empty!

Duan Rong just happened to make use of it!
It was dusk at the time of Shen, and the setting sun in the west was red like a ripe persimmon.

A tall and thin middle-aged clerk in the herbal medicine shop had just seen off a distinguished customer when he saw a figure covered with all kinds of stuff walking towards him in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Duan Rong walked to the door of the herbal medicine shop and smiled at the tall and thin middle-aged clerk, revealing his bright white teeth.

Duan Rong often came here to buy medicine, and they gradually became familiar with each other.

He already knew that this tall, thin, middle-aged clerk, named Ma Chu, was the most senior clerk in the herbal medicine shop.

Ma Chu originally thought that Duan Rong would go into the herbal medicine shop to buy medicine, so he stood at the door waiting, ready to welcome Duan Rong in.

Unexpectedly, Duan Rong reached the door, but turned around, walked over, and stopped under the crooked willow tree diagonally opposite.

At noon, Ma Chu noticed that under the crooked willow tree opposite, there was a group of servants and maids standing.

At first he thought it was some wealthy family training servants, but after looking at it, it didn't look like that. The clothes of those servants were completely different, and it was obvious that they were not from the same family. So Ma Chu was puzzled.

Duan Rong walked to the crooked willow tree, set up the easel, and then placed the bag on his shoulder on a branch beside him. He then smiled at the people in line, took out ten palm-sized wedge-shaped wooden sticks, handed them to the people in line one by one, and said, "There are numbers on these wooden sticks. Once you get a number, you don't have to wait here."

"As long as you come here with your number before the twilight hour, you can draw as soon as you arrive. We only care about your number, not your person!"

The servants and maids who had the wooden sticks were overjoyed, and six or seven of them left the team at once.

This method of distributing wooden sticks was something Duan Rong thought of last night. The ten wooden sticks were also made that night, and he wrote the numbers on them himself.

Ever since he devoured the spirit of the weapon and absorbed the writing skills of the beautiful lady in the erotic palace and the thin scholar, his calligraphy has become quite artistic and distinctive, and is not easy to imitate.

This method of distributing wooden sticks, using the context of his previous life, is called improving user experience.

At dusk, Ma Chu stood in the lobby of the herbal medicine shop, looking across the street at Duan Rong, who was painting tirelessly under the crooked willow tree in the dim light of a lantern. He smacked his lips and said, "Although Xiangu County is small, it is home to many talented people and beautiful scenery!"

In fact, Duan Rong moved his painting location to a location diagonally opposite the herbal medicine shop on West Street.

It also took some thought.

He himself had a deep understanding of the high cost of medicinal supplements. This herbal medicine shop served high-end customer groups, and these people were also the potential customer circle of his business.

Therefore, he chose to set up a stall diagonally opposite the herbal medicine shop. This is called grasping the traffic code.

Moreover, this West Street was originally the widest and most prosperous street in Xiangu County. It not only had the largest herbal medicine shop, the largest silk shop, and the largest restaurant, but also branches of Yuanshun Escort Agency, the county government, and Yunshui Piaohao were all located on this street. It can be called the CBD of Xiangu County.

Originally, there was the largest brothel in Xiangu County on this street - Chunzuilou. However, later on, Huayinglou rose to prominence, and the four great Huayings beat Chunzuilou so badly that it had no power to fight back, and the building was deserted day by day!
The madam of Chunzuilou learned from her mistakes and cut her losses in time. She simply redecorated Chunzuilou and changed its name to Chunfeng Inn.

From a brothel madam, she transformed herself into the female manager of Chunfeng Inn.

You know what, business has actually improved since then.

It is true that when you are poor you must change, and when you change you will succeed!
A few days after Duan Rong moved his stall to West Street.

That evening, Shen Mizhi and her maid Qiu Hen walked along West Street.

Shen Mizhi held a long sword with a dark red snakeskin scabbard and a tasseled sword tassel. She stood with a straight waist and walked briskly. If she walked at a normal speed, Qiu Hen would have to jog to keep up with her.

"Miss, please walk slower. I can't keep up with you!" Qiu Hen pouted and muttered.

Just as Shen Mizhi was about to stop and scold Qiu Hen, she suddenly saw a dark-skinned, square-faced boy with short brown hair, painting attentively in front of an easel under the crooked willow tree opposite.

Shen Mizhi's face, as white as a freshly peeled egg, showed a puzzled expression, her eyebrows slightly frowned, and she asked, "Qiu Hen, what's that over there doing?"

Qiu Hen saw Shen Mizhi finally stopped, and immediately stopped behind her. He only felt the pain in his tight calves, and finally relaxed a little. He glanced at the other party and smiled, "He is a painter. He is very famous recently! Young ladies and gentlemen from various courtyards are lining up to paint him!"

"Really?" Shen Mizhi blinked her clear eyes, revealing an expression of disbelief.

"Miss, why don't you draw one too..."

"Why get involved in this kind of thing?" Although Shen Mizhi is a woman, she has a strong faith in Taoism and has always been disgusted with miscellaneous things.

"But..." Qiu Hen seemed to be choosing his words, and after a pause he said, "Miss, if you go to Taiyi Sect next year, you won't be able to return to Xiangu County easily. With this painting, if the master and his wife miss you, it can help ease their pain!"

Shen Mizhi was slightly surprised and a little ashamed. She was strong-willed by nature and was indeed a little indifferent to family matters. Qiu Hen had thought of this, but she had never thought about it.

"But I don't know how good this painter is."

"Ten taels per piece, and there are so many people lining up. The quality must be good!"

"Ten taels per piece?"

"Yes, it is."

It's not that Shen Mizhi couldn't afford the money. Ten taels of silver was nothing to her. She just found it surprising that a painter who set up a street stall could sell at such a price.

"Then go and line up." Shen Mizhi glanced at Qiu Hen and said.

"That's tomorrow. This painter only paints ten paintings a day, starting at 3 p.m. and closing at 4 p.m. There are no spots left for today!"

"Only ten paintings?" Shen Mizhi had never heard of this before, and a look of surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes.

"This sir is so arrogant!" At this moment, Shen Mizhi was actually quite interested in the plain-looking painter sitting under the crooked willow tree.

(End of this chapter)